* The Weighted CompanionCube from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' is one of the game's most famous icons and is prominent in the game's merchandise, as well as a popular subject in fan art. The companion cube does not speak or move or threaten to stab you and only appears in a single level of the game, but is much more well known than the protagonist Chell. Hell, he even got a [[CompanionCube trope]] named after him.** The defective personality cores in the last act of ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.*** [[AC: "Spacespacespacespace! Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!"]]*** [[AC: "Y'know what I hope is in space? Fire. I hope you go to space, and you catch on fire."]]*** [[AC: "The probability of you dying violently in the next 5 minutes is 87.61%."]]* Creator/PatrickStewart in The ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''. Apart from his opening cutscene voiceover, he had maybe 10 minutes of screen time as the Emperor before being killed. SeanBean gets about 30.** It's also probably worth noting that the only reason there are so few other voice actors in the game is because they blew an inordinate amount of their budget to get him for that one role.* On a similar note, Creator/LiamNeeson lends his voice talent to the main character's father in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. Although most of the main quest centers around your father, he only appears in the very beginning of the game and for a brief period in the third act. Tragic, really.** Also, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell's performance as President Eden is brief but brilliant, and it wouldn't be ''Fallout'' without Creator/RonPerlman's intro: "War. War never changes."** Harold, the mutant from the previous two games who had a plant sprouting out of his head by the second, makes an appearance for a sidequest in the third, the plant on his head turning into a full-blown tree with Harold stuck inside.* [[DrillSergeantNasty Sergeant Dornan]] in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', one of the most memorable NPC's despite being little more than an extra. Despite his relative insignificance to the plot (you can rather easily bypass him at camp Navarro), the Sarge's got a "talking head" and voice acting which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkKkHmFOfKE must be heard to be believed.]]* The Goomba Shoe from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' only appears in ONE level from ONE game of the entire [[LongRunner Mario franchise]]! That is, unless you buy certain e-Reader cards for Super Mario Advance 4, too bad [[NoExportForYou the U.S. and Europe never got them]].** Note that it did get a reference in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' with the [[http://www.mariowiki.com/Sockop Sockops]], a green pitcher-plant monster that Luigi gets to hop around in at one point.** It also came back in "Kirby's Return to Dreamland"* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':** Peter Jessup voices [[KillerRobot Sovereign]] for ''two'' scenes, yet manages to freak out the entire fan community with a single, all-encompassing BadassBoast on behalf of the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]];-->'''Sovereign''': [[AC:You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.]]-->'''"[[AC: I am Sovereign. [[spoiler: And this station is mine!]]]]"'''** Matriarch Benezia, Liara's mother and Saren's right-hand woman, only actually shows up for two scenes and one audio recording [[spoiler: before she's killed whilst performing SuicideByCop, as it's the only way to free her from [[BrainwashedAndCrazy indoctrination]].]]** Matriarch Aethyta, [[spoiler: Liara's [[OneGenderRace father]]]]. She affects one small sidequest, and has only one set of conversation options, which show that she's SeenItAll in her thousand-year life and has no qualms about sharing it. The [[CoolOldLady cool old ladies]] don't get much cooler, or older.--->''"I saw a krogan drink a liquified turian on a dare six or seven centuries back. Nobody came out of that one looking pretty."''** A slightly more traditional example from VideoGame/MassEffect2 is Creator/AdamBaldwin's brief appearance as [[MemeticBadass Kal'Reegar]], a quarian ''commando'' with a ''rocket launcher''. Despite only appearing in two places, he's gained a huge fan following.--->'''Kal'Reegar:''' The geth might get me, but I'm not dying of an infection in the middle of a battle! That's just insulting!** Okeer. Literally a one-scene wonder - a highly intelligent and borderline philosophical character who serves as a traditionalist counterpart to Wrex's reformist idealism, Okeer eloquently explains traditional krogan morality to Shepard while sounding utterly badass. And he provides Shepard with [[spoiler: Grunt, sacrificing himself]] in the process.** [[LeeroyJenkins Private Jenkins]], the doomed squadmember from the first game who dies ''two minutes'' into your first mission. Even in-universe, he's occasionally mentioned fondly by various ''Normandy'' crewmembers.** Niftu Cal, the drugged up volus who think's he's a biotic god.** Rila, Samara's middle daughter. She only appears at the end of the monastery mission, but her HeroicWillpower and LastStand really left a mark.* Lancer in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. He is the first enemy encountered in the game's introduction and does little but fight with Archer and all but kill Shirou, after which he spends most of the time in the background . He only gets a bit of spotlight [[spoiler:in Unlimited Blade Works when he helps Rin and Shirou by keeping Archer occupied, and later rescues Rin by killing Kotomine and scaring off Shinji while ''missing his heart''. Oh, and inadvertently saving Shirou post-humously by making Gilgamesh sooty]]. Outside of that he's basically the poster boy for TheWorfEffect, [[spoiler:being killed off by the TheDragon in the other two routes.]] Yet he's almost as [[{{Badass}} GAR]] as Archer for the fandom.** [[spoiler: On the other hand, in Fate route...he DOES fight Gilgamesh in a duel to the death HeroicSacrifice...against orders. And without complaints.]]* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' there are a very few high-ranking [=NPCs=] that get an occasional memorable scripted scene.** In Wrath of the Lich King, when Tirion Fordring appears for any significant speaking role, it's usually worth waiting and watching.** LargeHam or not, the ex-Death Knight, Thassarian, easily steals the spotlight of any questline in which he is involved.** Grand Apothecary Putress. He sends low-level players out on some really shady quests and then you don't hear from him for 40 levels. At level 75, though, he re-emerges at Wrathgate - crashing a war between Horde/Alliance and the Scourge - [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome with a fucking vengeance.]]---> "Did you think we had forgotten? Did you think we had forgiven? Behold, now the terrible vengeance of the Forsaken! '''Death to the Scourge, and DEATH TO THE ''LIVING!'''''** And then did that sterling dead man own seventy shades of bejeezus out of the Horde, the Alliance ''and'' the Scourge - ''Including Bolvar [[FanNickname 'Dragon Puncher']] Fordragon, Saurfang Jr. and the eponymous Lich King, fucking Arthas himself.'' Many players - particularly Undead players - would have sworn allegiance to that man on the spot.* Although technically a One Level Wonder, [[BadassPreacher Father Grigori]] in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', who like most examples achieves this with his first line. "You have already met my, hehe, 'congregation'."* Creator/JohnCleese appears as an NPC in a single quest in ''JadeEmpire''. With a name like [[AwesomeMcCoolName Sir Roderick Ponce Von Fontlebottom]] the MagnificentBastard, and being voiced by ''John freaking Cleese'', it's not surprising that he's easily one of the most memorable characters in the game.** Also, in his first appearance he BLASTS A ENEMY FIGHTER WHEN THIS WAS PREPARING TO FIGHT HIM.** And if you beat him you can claim his musket as a reward. And run around through fantasy Imperial China blasting people with a musket.* [[ColdSniper Captain MacMillan]] from ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: ModernWarfare'' is extremely popular within the fandom and has achieved a MemeticBadass status despite only appearing in two levels. He returns in ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 3]]''.** [[spoiler: Dimitri Petrenko's return as an NPC]] in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps''.* Mike the helicopter pilot in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. Notable for blowing shit up as the ''only'' backup you'll ever recieve in the game, and promptly getting shot down as soon as the one level is finished. Players also remember him because Leon shows [[SayMyName far more pathos over Mike's death]] than even the two police officers he traveled with at the beginning of the game.** To be fair, the two officers were rather... [[{{Jerkass}} unpersonable]], frequently taking potshots at Leon ([[{{Bishonen}} particularly his appearance]]), and then [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere hightailing it out of there (sans Leon, of course) the moment things started to get hairy]] ([[DeathByPragmatism fittingly enough, they meet a gruesome end at the hand of the Ganados]]). Plus, in Mike's defense, not only did he enact one of the greatest BigDamnHeroes moments in the series, [[FamousLastWords but he also]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPf4sW32zGw knew a good bar.]]* The bug-like sentry turrets in ''[[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doom 3]]'' are only seen in action at one small portion of the game, but their presence gives the player an immense relief. They sport a bright headlight and a machine gun, and will quickly locate and kill any hidden enemies while spouting a series of agitated beeps and clicks. Arguably, they could be the only characters in the game the player may feel an emotional connection to.* The Green Biker Dude from the ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man X}}2'' intro. On screen for barely 5 seconds, and he's still one of the most memorable ''X'' series characters.* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' has so, so many; minor bosses who are only in one stage tend to be among the most beloved in the fanbase. This includes the likes of [[WarmUpBoss Batta the Beast]], [[SmallNameBigEgo Glass]], [[BrokenRecord Denning]], [[MemeticMolester Gheb]], and [[MemeticSexGod Oliver]], the last of which was popular enough that he returned in the next game [[spoiler:as a recruitable unit]]. There's also the 3-13 Archer, a nameless allied NPC from ''Radiant Dawn'', who is often considered one of the greatest units in the game. However, one of the most major examples is Dheginsea, the Black Dragon King, who is one of the world's most powerful beings and plays an essential role in the backstory of the Tellius games... he appears ''three times between the two games''.* ''VideoGame/BattleGaregga'' has the bonus flamingoes that you can trigger on Stage 2 and [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential attack]] for masses of extra points. Because [[EveryTenThousandPoints points give you extra lives]], and extra lives (or rather, [[ScrappyMechanic the suicide of]]) are necessary to keep the game's DynamicDifficulty under control, the flamingoes are very popular amongst fans.* Riordan, in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is something of one. His debut? He snaps the neck of the man keeping watch over him, whom you have distracted for about two seconds, and then introduces himself with a bow, seeming quite pleased to meet you, with a warm-yet-badass voice. He also reveals he knew Duncan, your [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan]]. Later, he gives you information and allows you to get some powerful items for free. [[TheStrategist After that, he shows he's not just another BadAss in a game full of badasses, but also knows how to keep his eye on the ball]]. The next time he appears, he makes TheReveal of why the Grey Wardens aren't just useful, but necessary. And then he gets possibly [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the most amazing send-off of any character, minor or major, in any video game ever]].** A minor Carta thug in Orzammar has a performance so [[LargeHam over the top]] when you beat him, you'll want to bring him along for the rest of the game.** The pirate queen Isabela's only major scene happens when you visit Denerim's brothel for the first time, and she'll teach the Duelist specialization for Rogues if you beat her at a rigged game of cards...or if you have sex with her, which can become a three- or ''four''some depending on your companions. Her character was so popular (mostly due to players wondering how to get the foursome, or have an [[LesYay all-girl threesome]]), that she was brought back in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' as a full party member and possible love interest - as promiscuous, morally suspect, and far more pirate-y than ever, and a bottomless well of {{Double Entendre}}s and horrible puns.** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', Movran the Under, the Avvar chief who's response to the death of his son is to throw live goats at Skyhold (as in the building itself). He appears only while the player decides his punishment, [[LargeHam hamming it up]] the whole time.* [[spoiler:Creator/DavidHasselhoff]] as the American Vice President in ''[[CommandAndConquerRedAlert Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3]]''* The opening cinematic of ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' Brood Wars, we get to see what would be a terran defense against the zerg, as well as some of the units not being affected by GameplayAndStorySegregation and fighting as good as they should in theory (this means that a single marine '''will''' lose against a lone zergling, and that the [[KillItwithFire firebats]] attack can kill both enemy and friend), afterwards we get to see a random marine who [[OneHitKill easily]] takes down two zergling, which a previous one couldn't even [[MoreDakka after depleting his entire ammo]] with his rocket launcher[[note]]In the Starcraft universe, the type of Gauss Rifle that was used in the first war had a secondary fire option, [[/note]], earning mentions of being the first [[StarCraftII marauder]].** Note that this marine is black, wearing sunglasses, and is more concerned with rocking out to guitar solos than his impending death.* Poseidon in ''VideoGame/GodOfWar 3''. All of the other gods have at least one other appearance in the game, but Poseidon only shows up during Kratos and the Titans' siege of Mount Olympus [[spoiler:due to being killed during it]]. But boy, is his role in that part [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome memorable]].* ''[[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'': "I AM ERROR." A short appearance and [[MisBlamed name that seemed the result of a glitch or poor translation]] endeared Error to the fans forever.** In [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames the CD-i games]], several minor characters are immensely popular like Morshu, who only has two scenes.--->'''Morshu''': "Mmmmmm... richer."*** And of course, [[AllThereInTheManual King Harkinian]]. He only appears in the intro to ''Faces of Evil'' and is only important to the plot of ''Wand of Gamelon'', and even then only appears in the intro and ending. Come the advent of YouTubePoop, he's one of the most popular characters EVER.--->'''The King''': [[MemeticMutation I wonder what's for dinner...]]*** Link in The Wand Of Gamelon He only appears in the opening and closing cutscenes.* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' fandom is largely convinced that Rief's sister Nowell from ''[[VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn Dark Dawn]]'' will return as a player character in the next game. All we know about her presently is that she doesn't like her little brother getting into danger, and that she ''does'' like Captain Piers enough to [[PutOnABus go for an unplanned joyride with him]].** An even better example from the same game would be [[ShrineMaiden Himi]], who is ''barely'' a player character-- she [[EleventhHourRanger joins the party at the last possible second]] and as a result has ''[[FlatCharacter literally NO character development whatsoever]]'' (even by ''Golden Sun'''s notoriously low standards), but easily rivals [[MrFanservice Amiti]] and [[BadassAdorable Sveta]] in sheer popularity with the fandom.* [[BigBad Father Balder]] in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' is heard in voice, but doesn't appear on screen till the end of the game, but easily steals the show when he does due to his badassery and crossing the MoralEventHorizon.* Many of the psychopaths from ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' and especially ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'' are these due to only having two cutscenes each to get their characterization from. The big ones though are probably the [[LargeHam STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE manager]] and Adam from the 1st game and [[KnightTemplar Brandon]] and [[AxCrazy Slappy]] from the second.* There's exactly one playable Pandaren in the whole ''Warcraft'' series (so far), he's an optional character in a campaign that you don't even need to play in a regular playtrough, he became so popular that Blizzard have been teasing WoW players with making Pandaren a playable race since the early stages, they will finally get their own expansion (they included the race's name in the title of the expansion). Oh, and the character wasn't even planed to be included in the game, one of the designers made a concept artwork as an april's fool joke.* ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Kingdom Hearts 3D]]'' has one that seemed to exist solely for the trailers, and lasted for all but ''two seconds''. Oh, hi there, [[spoiler:Vanitas.]] Oh, bye, [[spoiler:Vanitas]]!* Monsoon from ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance]]'' appears in only one scene but he leaves a huge impact on the protagonist, Raiden.* Nightmare only appeared very briefly as the FinalBoss at the very end of [[VideoGame/KirbysAdventure one game]] in the ''{{Kirby}}'' franchise, yet he remains one of its most iconic villains. Probably helps that he's the one who started the VileVillainSaccharineShow trend the series is famous for.** Speaking of which, Zero from ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'' is equally famous, appearing right out of nowhere with absolutely no foreshadowing and immediately becoming the most memorable part of the game, largely for the shocking scene where it [[EyeScream rips it's own bleeding eye out.]]** Drawcia from "Kirby Canvas Curse." She only has one appearance, yet she starts the trend of the TrueFinalBoss soul forms of BigBad main villains.* The Great Mighty Poo from ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. The living definition of the ultimate ToiletHumor.----